


Lights, Santa and Presents

by Anica



Series: Hanni-verse [13]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Christmas Lights, Established Relationship, M/M, Mild Language, None Stop Fluff, Post Mpreg, Shopping, Will Knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 21:14:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anica/pseuds/Anica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Humbug Hannibal and cheerful Will. They make the holidays work. They always make it work. </p>
<p>Holidays at the Hanni-verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lights, Santa and Presents

**Author's Note:**

> No beta, Sorry. I keep trying. 
> 
> Enjoy.

Dr. Hannibal Lecter walked up slowly to his house. If it wouldn’t have been for the curl haired pair outside, he might have thought he took a wrong turn somewhere or perhaps had a bit too much to drink with Dr. Du Maurier. 

Will stood on the ladder, hanging lights around the windows, singing on top of his lungs about a Christmas donkey. Hanni stood at the bottom of the ladder, singing along and making donkey sounds while feeding his daddy the string of lights. 

“What are you two doing?” Hannibal asked, frozen snow crunching under his feet as he came to stand by the ladder.

“Putting decorations up,” Will beamed down at him. “Really, Hannibal, you’ve lived here half your life, it’s time to do as the Romans.” 

“Romans would not put up tacky decorations,” Hannibal frowned at him. “I thought we agreed against this.” 

“We did, years ago,” Will’s smile only grew. “But that was a long time ago when you out voted me. This year Hanni and I are the majority.” 

“And Winston,” Hanni chimed in. 

The years prior Will hadn’t really cared for decorating their home and Hanni had been too little to care where his presents came from. This year things were different. After driving around and looking at the decorations others had put up, Hanni had wanted to do the same. Will found himself wanting to comply. 

“Absolutely not,” Hannibal shook his head. “I refuse to let our house look tawdry!” 

“Tawdry?” Will chuckled, leaning against the ladder. “Have a little faith, Han. I would never let my humble beginnings reflect badly on you.” 

The doctor’s look turned icy. “That is not what I said. Please reframe from putting words in my mouth.” 

“If you help, I bet it will look very tasteful,” Will gave him a charming smile, trying to undo the earlier damage.

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Hannibal warned, becoming increasingly annoyed at the smirk on the younger man’s face. 

Will caught Hanni’s eyes and gave him a wink as he nodded towards the older man. The boy dropped the string of lights and threw himself against his father’s long coat. 

“Please, papa? Please can we have lights? Please papa? Please?” Hanni begged. 

“Stop,” Hannibal said, not unkindly but with enough firmness in his voice to make the boy pull away and look to his daddy for help. 

Hannibal returned to glaring at his lover. Turning the house into a tactless eyesore was one thing, but using their son against him just because he wasn’t getting his way, was going too far. 

“Don’t worry, son,” Will gave the boy a reassuring look. “Your papa is cross with me and not with you.” 

Though Hannibal was in no way pleased with either of them, he caught the boy’s eyes and winked down at him. Hanni seemed to relax once he was sure his papa wasn’t upset with him.

“Hannibal,” Will called out gently, turning the older man’s attention back to himself. “Please? If you don’t like it, we never have to do it again.” 

Hannibal sighed. That was a reasonable request. Will didn’t need to hear the decision. It was written all over the older man’s face, within the annoyed smile and the softening of the eyes. Will took a step down to show his gratitude, but his foot caught in the sting of lights and he was suddenly falling. 

Will let out a shaky breath, when he felt sold arms instead of the cold, hard ground. He opened his eyes and smiled up at Hannibal, trying to steady his nerves as he relaxed into the familiar hold. Neither man seemed in a hurry to move.

“Wow,” Hanni’s eyes went wide, and he made a move for the ladder. “Catch me, papa.” 

Hannibal quickly set Will on his feet and pulled the boy off the ladder before he could go past the first rung. 

“Hanni, I told you that you were not allowed to climb the ladder!” Will scolded as Hannibal held the boy in his arms. 

“But I want papa to catch me too,” Hanni said, trying disappear into his papa’s arms. 

“Your daddy wasn’t playing,” Hannibal explained. “He could have been terribly hurt.”

“But you caught him,” Hanni smiled up at the doctor, hero worship clearly written all over his face. 

“That is not the point,” Hannibal’s eyes narrowed on the boy. “Mind your daddy or you can wait inside while we decorate.” 

“I’ll be good,” Hanni quickly said and looked over at Will. “I’ll be good, daddy. I promise.” 

“I know,” Will leaned and kissed the boy’s cold cheek then rubbed them to warm them up a bit. 

When Will returned to the ladder, Hannibal threw Hanni high into the air and caught him in a tight embrace. 

“Again, papa! Again!” Hanni laughed and Hannibal quickly complied. 

Will stood half way up the ladder, snapping pictures of the two, ignoring the decoration in favor of moments that he would never get back.

****

Will walked from store to store, Hanni holding his hand, as they looked around. 

“See anything you like?” Will asked the boy. 

Hanni shrugged and dragged him along the aisles. He wanted to find the perfect gift for his papa and so far he wasn’t having any luck. He pulled Will to a table full of ties and asked his daddy to lift him for a better look. 

“How about this one?” Will asked, pointing to tie that was a mixture of blue and green. 

“Papa has one,” Hanni told him. 

“Oh, does he?” Will chuckled, trying to imagine his son as a teenager with his papa’s unique taste. 

“Can I help you find something?” a young woman approached them. 

“I need a gift for papa,” Hanni told her before Will could politely decline. The boy suddenly remembered he wasn’t suppose to talk to strangers and turned to his daddy with wide eyes. “Is she a stranger?” 

“Yes, but I’m here, so it’s ok,” Will said, glad the boy remembered the talk they had last month. 

“Well, aren’t you a bright little boy?” the woman gave Hanni a wide smile. “I would love to help you. Can you tell me about your papa?”

“Papa is very strong. He caught daddy when he fell down the ladder.” 

“Off,” Will corrected, blushing and looking away. 

“He has very pretty suits and he doesn’t like it when Winston sits on the bed,” Hanni added. 

“Sounds like a special guy,” she said, her voice sweet and Will could tell she probably had a child Hanni’s age or a little older. “What do you think he needs?”

“That’s just the thing,” Will sighed. “there is nothing that man needs?”

“Simple kind of guy?” she asked. 

“Filthy rich,” he said, just barely able to hold back a snort at the idea that his fiancé was any sort of simple. It was impossible to shop for a man that could have anything he wanted. 

“Oh,” She smiled and looked at Hanni. “Maybe you can make your papa something special?” 

“Papa likes my pictures,” Hanni said, sounding excited. 

“This doesn’t really help you with making sales,” Will said with a raised brow at the sales woman as he set Hanni down. 

She shrugged, “ties and gloves are nice but there’s only so many pictures your kids are going to draw you.” 

Will smiled, thanked her, and let a very excited Hanni pull him out of the door. 

***

“What’s that?” Hanni asked pointing to a big red box with toy’s peaking out. 

“That is donation box for Toys For Tots,” Will told his son, picking him up so he could look inside. 

“What’s that?” 

“That means that people buy these toys and give it to families that can’t afford to buy presents for their kids,” Will explained. 

“Can we do that?” Hanni asked. 

“You want to donate toys?” 

Hanni nodded.

“You do understand that means you can’t keep them, right?” Will asked. “It means it’s going to go to little boys and girls that need these toys.”

“Yes daddy,” Hanni nodded. “I understand.” 

*** 

“I don’t feel comfortable lying to our son,” Hannibal said as he plated dinner. 

“Stop it,” Will rolled his eyes as he opened a bottle of wine. “You make it sound like we’re those parents that teach their kids that medicine is bad for them.”

“I don’t want to lose his trust,” Hannibal said, sparing him a glance before returning to the food. 

“You’re his papa,” Will said, coming up behind him and resting his chin on the other’s shoulder, hands circling the waist. “He’ll always trust you.” 

“What do we tell him when he finds out the truth?” 

“Same things that parents have been telling their kids for years,” Will shrugged, unsure of what that was but figuring that when the time came, they would figure it out. “Don’t be such a Grinch.”

“Grinch?” Hannibal asked.

Will rolled his eyes and went to lean on the counter so he could look at the older man, “ Ebenezer Scrooge?” 

“Ah,” Hannibal nodded in understanding as he started on the last plate, putting a smaller portion on it for Hanni. “I have no problem with the holiday season. I have a problem about lying to my son about the existence of mythical figure who travels the world in one night and hands out presents to children.” 

“There’s also coal,” Will said helpfully and laughed when Hannibal gave him a humorless look. 

***

“Can we go see Santa?” Hanni asked as he papa walked him through the store.

“We’re going to see Santa this weekend when your daddy is with us,” Hannibal reminded the child. “We’re looking for a gift for daddy, remember?” 

“Yea,” Hanni sighed, as he passed the line of kids. 

“What do you think your daddy would like?” Hannibal asked, eyes roaming the many aisles. He had spent hours trying to shop online but was no where closer to finding the perfect gift for his lover. What do you get a man that wants nothing?

“He likes dogs,” Hanni said helpfully. 

“Nice try,” Hannibal chuckled. 

“Hey, I remember you, little guy,” a sales woman came over, smiling down at Hanni. “Doing some more holiday shopping?”

“We’re shopping for daddy this time,” Hanni said, smiling widely at the friendly lady he remembered from his last trip. 

“This time?” Hannibal raised an amused eyebrow at the woman.

“My lips are sealed,” the woman laughed and winked at the boy, holding a finger to her lips. “Anything specific that I can help you find?” 

“I’m not fully sure where to start,” Hannibal hated to admit. 

“It can be overwhelming. Is he the type that can have anything he wants?” She asked, recalling some of what the man with the sweet little boy had said when they spoke. There were lots of shoppers but a few stood out every once in a while. 

“I suppose if he wanted to,” Hannibal shook his head. “But he is more the type that wants nothing.” 

“I bet he wants a dog,” Hanni said. 

“Winston would get jealous,” Hannibal told the boy, who in return pouted. 

The woman chuckled before shrugging one shoulder. “Those that usually have no interest in material things, are a little more about enjoying the time they have with loved ones. What does he enjoy doing?” 

“Hanni? What does daddy like to do?” Hannibal asked, smiling. “And don’t say play with Winston.” 

“He likes to play with me,” Hanni smiled. 

“I can’t give you to daddy for Christmas, you’re mine.” 

“Daddy likes fishing,” Hanni giggled. 

“Fishing,” the store clerk clapped her hands together happily. “Well, that’s a start.”

***

Snow fell slowly around them, large flakes that stuck to their coats and eyelashes. 

Hanni ran back and forth between the rows of trees. His fathers walked down the middle, always keeping an eye out for him. 

“How about this one?” Will nodded towards a tree just over seven feet tall.

“Must it be so large?” Hannibal asked, only sparing it a glance. 

Will stopped and grinned wickedly at the older man, “are we still talking about the tree?”

Hannibal stopped and turned to look at Will, eyebrows raised. 

“We’re cutting down a tree,” Will said. “This is suppose to be fun.” 

“Is it?” 

“Working on it,” Will said, licking his lips, closing the distance between, and kissing Hannibal till his glasses fogged up and little hands pulled on his coat. 

“Daddy, I found it. I found our tree! 

***

“You haven’t told me how much you hate the lights yet,” Will said, smugness clear in his voice. 

They sat in the library of their house. Hannibal scrolling through the news on his tablet in his favorite armchair. Will was resting on the floor against his knee, enjoying the heat from the fire they had built on his face and the occasional hand through his curls. 

“Drink your eggnog, Will,” Hannibal muttered. 

The Christmas tree stood by the window, filled with expensive hand painted, glass ornaments and popcorn on a string Will made with their son when the doctor was to busy with dinner. Hanni had gone to bed hours ago and there was no reason for the tree to stay lit. Will figured he might keep that fact to himself. 

Hannibal was not going to admit that Will had kept the decorations simple, clean and very appealing. Instead he ran his hand through his lovers hair and this time kept it there. 

*** 

“Can you smile?” Will asked, as they stood on line with Hanni to see Santa. 

“I will smile once this is over,” Hannibal said. 

Hanni bounced nervously, gripping his papa’s hand tightly. He hoped Santa was as nice as he was in cartoons and movies. 

“Daddy, I can’t see Santa,” Hanni said looking up at the bearded man. 

“Less than a week till Christmas, Santa has lots of kids still left to see,” Will explained and lifted the boy onto his shoulders. 

Hannibal made a rude sound at that and Will glared at him. 

“I think that’s enough,” Will said. “Do you want to wait in the car?” 

Hannibal had the decency to look slightly reproached and forced a pleasant smile into place. 

“I don’t know if that’s any better,” Will chuckled, glancing up at Hanni. Once he was sure that the boy was deeply engrossed in watching Santa, he looked back at Hannibal and spoke in a low voice. “There is more to this than a small harmless lie, isn’t there?”

“The idea of children demanding presents in exchange for decent behavior always seemed ridiculous to me,” Hannibal shrugged. 

Will couldn’t hold back the eye roll and paid the price for his childish behavior by having those maroon eyes narrow on him. “You’re worried about having a spoiled kid?” 

“We have the means to do it,” Hannibal admitted thoughtfully.

As a parent he wanted his son to have everything the child could possibly want, but he wanted his son to grow up knowing that life would not just hand things to him over like his fathers did. Life demanded hard work for one to feel accomplished. He wanted his son to feel pride in himself instead relaying money to fix his problems. 

“But we won’t,” Will said softly, his hand slipping into Hannibal’s to give it a comforting squeeze. “He is much more interested in playing outside with the dog or with us than any high-tech toy on the market.” 

“Sounds awfully familiar,” the doctor smiled. “If he is happy to just play outside, what is he here to ask for?” 

Will shrugged his shoulders, which got the boy’s attention and he giggled, burying his hands in his daddy’s hair. 

“Daddy, we’re almost there!” 

***

“Well, hello there young man,” Santa greeted Hanni with a genuine smile and a deep warm voice. “What might your name be?” 

“Junior,” Hanni said then thoughtfully added, “but you can call me Hanni.” 

“And have you been a good boy, Hanni?” Santa asked, voice filled with laughter. 

“Yes, Santa,” Hanni said with a certain amount of certainty because it had been weeks since he had any time outs. He thought it would be best to keep that part to himself, sure of the fact that Santa would know about such things so there was no need to bring it up now.

“Good, that’s good,” the bearded man’s smile widened and he bounced the boy on his knee. “What would you like Santa to bring you for Christmas?” 

“Santa can you bring my toys someone else?” Hanni asked, the small face deadly serious. 

The Santa looked up at the two fathers that were standing near by to see how to handle it but the curly haired man just shrugged while the one with fair hair looked just as confused. 

“You want your toys to go to someone else?” Santa asked Hanni. 

Hanni nodded urgently. “Can you give them to Toys For Tots? My daddy said some kids don’t get presents.” 

The mall Santa’s mouth hung slightly opened for a moment and his eyes glistened. He had been listening to demands all day and the little boy caught him off guard.

“You want to give your toys to some other child?” 

Hanni nodded again, “My papa and daddy always buy me nice toys. And clothes,” the boy pointed to his little red bowtie with a bit of pride. “You don’t have to bring me anything.” 

“That’s a very nice thing you’re willing to do for someone you don’t know,” Santa sighed, looking at the line and knowing that he would have to wrap it up soon. “Santa is going to go on his break and do just that, all right?” 

“Thanks, Santa,” Hanni said and reward the man with a hug, then added as an after thought. “You should probably get a doll in case there are girls and girls like dolls.” 

After his picture was taken, Hanni ran to stand between his dads, holding both their hands. 

“Santa is nice,” he told them, smiling up at them. 

“That he was,” Hannibal said kneeling by the boy and kissing his cheek. “And you are a very good little boy. I would appreciate it very much if you would help me pick out some toys to donate?”

Hanni grinned and nodded. 

 

*** 

Will woke up to Hannibal’s head resting on his shoulder. His hand snaked around the broad shoulders and he dropped a kiss on the soft gel free strands. He played with the doctor’s hair till he felt lips pressed firmly against his skin. 

“Are you awake?” Will whispered. 

Hannibal chuckled, “You have less patients than a four year old.” 

“I’m not going to dignify that with a response,” Will huffed.

“You do not have a response,” Hannibal said, a lazy smile curving his lips and he moved up till he was covering most of Will’s chest and rested in the crook of the younger man’s neck.

“I prefer it when you’re speechless, Dr. Lecter.” Will said, mind suddenly on the previous night and how wonderful Hannibal looked bathed in warm light of the fire they build. 

“I prefer it when you are making me speechless,” Hannibal said, nibbling on the skin over the jugular. “You may either start or let me return to sleep.” 

Will groaned and shifted under the wonderfully solid weight of his lover. Hanni would be up soon, and after last night, it might be a good idea to get some rest. 

***

Less than an hour later, Hanni was climbing on their bed and jumping on top of his dads. 

“It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas!” 

Both parents took their time getting out of bed, forcing the boy to take them by the hand and pull as hard as he could. The little feet slid on the wooden surface and he ended up hanging in their solid grip, feet drawn up, giggling madly. 

“Are you going to walk?” Hannibal asked, looking down at the boy dangling between them. 

Hanni shook his head, smile as wide as it would go, and let his dads do the heavy lifting for once. 

They settled around the tree. 

Hanni shredded the wrapping off his gift, while Hannibal looked on with a mixture of affection and annoyance, and squealed happily at the toy engine that was so much like the ones his daddy worked on. There was still a pile of gifts to open for him but he grabbed the red box with a bright red bow and climbed onto his papa’s lap. 

“Open it,” Hanni commanded. 

Hannibal’s arms circled the boy, and he started to gently undo the wrapping. 

“Not like that, papa!” Hanni said, ripped the paper, while Will hid his smile behind his phone as he captured the moment. 

“Thank you so very much,” Hannibal, a playful growl in his voice, as he tickled the boy’s sides. 

He pulled away the shreds of paper. It was a book, obviously home made. The covers were wooden, held together by a thick black and red ribbon. It had ‘papa’ burnt into the top in Hanni’s handwriting but with Will’s steadiness. Inside it was pages and pages of Hanni’s artwork. Between the art, there were pages of family photos. Different combinations of the three of them through out the book. 

“This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” Hannibal said, his hands lovingly turning the pages. 

“Daddy helped,” Hanni admitted. 

“You are very modest,” Hannibal chuckled, cupping he boy’s chin and kissed the small nose. He looked over at Will and said thank you without ever saying a word. 

“This is from us as well,” Will handed over a smaller package. 

Hannibal carefully opened the new package, playfully holding it out of Hanni’s grasp when the boy tried to ‘assist’ him again. It was first edition of Dracula, a book he had enjoyed very much in his youth. 

“Hanni promised not to destroy this one,” Will said with a wide grin at the doctor. 

“Will, this is-” 

“You’re welcome,” Will said with a pointed look. The book had been expensive but it was not as if Hannibal ever let him pay for anything in the house. 

“Thank you,” was late but better than never, and the doctor did look grateful.

“I don’t remember messing up the old one,” Hanni said from where he still set in his papa’s lap. “But daddy said I messed it up good.” 

“Well, don’t you sound proud?” Hannibal laughed, tickling the boy. “Why don’t you go get our presents for daddy?” 

Hanni scrambled off Hannibal’s lap and ran to fetch two green and white boxes he had helped his papa wrap. He climbed into Will’s lap and gave the large of the two packages to Will. 

“This is from papa, you have to open it first.” 

“Oh I have to, do I?” Will looked suspiciously at the older man who wore a very good poker face. 

Will shredded the wrapping with an unapologetic grin, which made the doctor roll his eyes in the most rudest of ways. He opened the box with a pleased smile.

It was a telescope. Straight out of a pirate movie, Will thought. It looked antique and very expensive. The kind of the thing that the doctor would have in his office for show but not to play with. Will slipped off his glasses and took it out of the box. This was his toy and he was going to play with it.

Will held up the telescope, looking out of the window, while Hanni slipped on his daddy’s glasses. Hannibal grinned as he photographed the two, pleased that Will seemed to like his present. 

“It’s great,” Will said, smiling at his lover. 

With a wink from his papa Hanni handed over the second box. Will raised a brow at the child. The boy could hardly contain himself, bouncing in his lap and grinning madly. Will shook the package but didn’t hear anything moving around. 

Will pulled the wrapping off and this time Hanni didn’t even try to assist him. He removed the tissue paper till the only thing left in the box was a set of keys with a floater on it. Will covered Hanni’s ears with his hands as his eyes snapped to his fiancé. 

“You got me a fucking boat?” Will whispered, not taking a chance even with the boy’s ears being covered. 

“It’s a yacht actually,” Hannibal smiled.

“Hannibal…” Will shook his head, searching for words. His hands slipped off the boy’s ears and the kid giggled. 

“You’re welcome,” Hannibal smiled and nodded towards his son. “It was mostly Hanni’s doing.” 

Will smiled down at the boy and wrapped his arms tightly around him, resting his chin on the boy’s head as he looked at his partner. 

“It’s too much,” he insisted. 

“It really isn’t. Just a small yacht with a living space, a bedroom and a decent enough kitchen to live in for a month.” 

“What?” 

“We’re going on a trip daddy!” Hanni squealed happily, jumping off Will’s lap, no longer able sit still. “We’re going sailing daddy! For a whole month!” 

Will waited, not wanting to look confused anymore. 

“I let my patients know I would be gone for the month of July and I spoke to Jack. We sail on the first,” Hannibal shrugged. “That is if you want to go.” 

“How did you get Jack to agree?” Will asked, voice heavy with suspicion. 

“Reason and logic,” Hannibal answered, amused. 

“And he is fine with it?” 

“fine is a strong word,” Hannibal shrugged. “In either case, we set sail in July. The only thing left to do is chart our destination. I thought you might want to pick that.” 

“A month? Just the three of us?” Will asked, looking down at the keys. 

“Winston is welcome to come,” Hannibal said, an affectionate look at the pooch in the corner. 

“Hannibal,” Will said, shaking his head in disbelief before closing the distance between them, capturing the other’s lips for a hard kiss. 

“Do you like it daddy?” Hanni asked, reclaiming his spot on Will’s lap once daddy sat back down.

“Hanni, baby,” Will shook his head. “I’m happy beyond words.” 

A month free of monster. A month of open seas and Hannibal in casual wear. A month of teaching his son to fish and swim. 

“What if I don’t want to come back at the end of the month?” Will asked. 

“Well then, my good Will, we’re going to need a bigger boat.” 

Hanni opened the rest of his presents, much too pleased and grateful for all the toys, books and art supplies he got, to notice the lack of a puppy. 

The year was ending, and a new one was about to begin. There was plenty of time to get a new dog before they left for their sea adventure. 

And his birthday was coming up.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote a back story for the Dracula book for a different prompt. Hannibal is hard to shop for. 
> 
> Happy Holidays!


End file.
